LDS Temples

Growing up the temple never scared me, nor was I worried about what happened inside. Just doing baptisms was perfectly fine for me… until everyone went on missions. Slowly, temple trip groups were split between those doing an endowment session and those doing baptisms. Then it was just a few of us going to the font…and then it was just two. At that point I felt so incredibly ostracized. While the rest of the entire group got to go behind the check-in desk, my friend and I were left to do baptisms on our own. I know that baptisms are also very important, but I felt that the others were getting more out of the trip than I could. Without going on a mission, there was never a real “reason” to get endowed. 

Not all of us are supposed to go on missions. Not all of us can.

This frustrated me so much! I felt like all my friends had more knowledge and were at a higher level than me. 

And it only got worse when as I got closer to going. 

The panic of being singled out (because I don’t know what I’m doing) or messing something up was terrifying. 

Temple Prep classes at church didn’t help me either. The fact that it was a separate class made the whole thing seem more secretive and selective. The class (in case you’re wondering) doesn’t talk about anything you didn’t already know. It could be taught in a normal class and that would be totally fine. 

I felt like maybe Satan was working on me. 

I had so many panic attacks and dreams that woke me up. 

Sometimes I cried about it. 

People telling me, “it’s a lot to take in” DOES NOT HELP AND MAKES IT WORSE. You make it more ambiguous. 

I understood it was sacred and that’s why we don’t talk about it, but honestly, it felt like I was blindly being thrown into the fire and I was supposed to excited…? I wasn’t. I was terrified. 

I wasn’t terrified of the ordinances, I was terrified of having no idea what to expect or what I would have to do if anything at all. 

“Just focus on the spirit” everyone told me. But it would have been nice to know what I have to do… just sit there? Say stuff? Move around the room? Do we do stuff one at a time? Was it all together? How was I supposed to know what to do? What do I participate in? 

AHHHHHHHHH. 

After going through this experience myself I wanted to offer my own advice and what helped me.

Thankfully, I had a wonderful fiancé who helped me. He didn’t know it, but helped calm my nerves a bit. He suggested reading a book about the temple (not The Holy Temple by Boyd K Packer, although that’s a good read which I recommend). The book Endowed from on High helped explain symbolisms and WHY they are used. Just a bit more information :) 

I was also so incredibly blessed with a roommate who instead of telling me the temple is a lot of information and weird (don’t tell people that either!!!), she told me that it’s the warmest, happiest place and you’ll never smile more. Everyone should be like her. She made me feel peaceful rather than worried. 

One of the most important things I found helpful was to ask people “what’s one thing you wish someone had told you before you went your first time” 

This makes people actually remember their anxieties and what would have helped. You get some good and more thoughtful answers this way. 

But the most help I had was from praying. I can’t tell you how many times I was on my knees praying for comfort about it, and that I would be excited to go. 

The days got better after that. 

Not all days were worry free, but I was much more relaxed. I felt like I had a blanket around my brain keeping anxiety thoughts away. 

I prayed and thought about it so much that I had this incredible dream that about put all my worries to rest. It must have come from heaven, because no such feelings of peace and joy could have come from anywhere else.

I entered into a giant black and white building, glass windows everywhere. The scenery was beautiful…gardens, mountains, temples, snow, fountains, all surrounding this building. I was greeted by former prophet, President Hinckley, but I also recognized other faces from home. President Hinkley asked if he could help me, and I told him it was my first time going into a building like this. He was so excited for me to be there! He told me that I shouldn’t be so worried and that he wanted to show me something that might help. He let me enter past an invisible shield/veil thing, and as soon as I stepped through pure joy shot through me. My entire body was glowing with this feeling of bliss and peace. It was the purest form of happiness. I’ve never felt so happy in my life! At that point I exclaimed, “how can the church not be true when you receive joy like this?! You can’t deny this feeling or the church. No other place has this.”

He then informed me that I was right! And everything we do is to have bits of that joy until we get to have the full joy again when we return back to heaven. 

That’s why we do everything. 

I still have questions why we do things. I still don’t get things. I’m still learning, but I wish I had gone earlier (before close to getting married).

I think it would have helped me process and feel more comfortable if I had just gone with my mom and without a wedding crew behind me. 

My advice is to go before you have to (marriage or mission) that way you’re going for yourself. 

Only have people you want to be there be there. (I advise parents to help you).

The temple is a wonderful place, and I feel myself wanting to go often, so it must have been not too bad. 

So go. Go now for yourself and feel of God’s mighty power. 

Don't forget to be awesome! 

Being a mini Christ

Everyone goes through hard times. There is always some sort of struggle in everyone's life, even if it's not very visible. Sometimes, things are much harder than other times.
I know I'm guilty of this, but when things get harder I'm always on my knees praying more, reading scriptures more, and trying to be everything I can to get the blessings to come.
What I forget is that when I am comforted and feel peace, I need to be going out to help other people who are struggling.
In II Corinthians Chapter 1, verse 4 is says, "Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God."
This brings me reassurance. It doesn't say He will comfort us after our tribulations, it says that He will comfort is in (during) our tribulations.

Sometimes it feels like eternities while we are in the midst of our trials. Sometimes they seem to disappear in the matter of an instance.
Do you ever wonder why God comforts us? Well, first of all He loves us. He loves us so much that He wants us to be happy and tries to guide us to the happiness He has planned out for us.
But He also comforts us so that we can help others.
He wants us to spread your comfort and happiness with others, and that's hard to do when you're in your own dismal state.
In a way, He is making a small extension of Himself within you by giving you the capability to help others.
That's pretty cool!

I have a personal experience with this. For a few weeks I had this constant anxiety and was feeling pretty alone. I felt like I was being abandoned by people that I cared about, and it was making me hurt deep down inside. It was like a constant ache in my body and it consumed most of my thoughts.

One day, I went to the temple while this thought was on my mind. It began with the usual pit in my stomach and an overwhelming feeling of loneliness grew inside of me. I closed my eyes and began to pray, even beg, for this to be taken away from me. I needed to be feel okay again, even if it was just for a moment.
Then, an overwhelming feeling of unconditional love washed over me like a wave. I had never felt such an increase of peace in one single moment. The thought then came to mind, "I will never abandon you"
And then I knew that I would be okay. People are going to fail you, but Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ can always be counted on. They are not going to leave you, even if everyone else does.
It was as if everything I had been depressed about disappeared, and I had a new light was shining within me.
This feeling of peace made me a happier person. I spent more time talking through other people's problems. I was able to listen to others without being consumed by my own thoughts. I felt more able to be with other people, instead of staying shut away in my room. My mind was cleared so I could see what things needed to be done around my apartment without grumbling. I became an encouragement to other people.
I'm happier than I have been in months. I'm not saying I don't struggle anymore, I do, but they are only brief moments. If I keep my main focus on helping other people, I know I'll be comforted so I can keep aiding His other children on earth, and that's what matters.

Don't forget to be awesome!

Thoughts from the Edge

I've been thinking a lot about the different social views everyone has. Opinions are so heated.
I feel like there is a constant war between two sides on practically everything.

For a long time, I've felt that you have to fully pick a side without reservations, or no one will accept you. Or that if you pick a side, you can't value any part of what the other "team" has to say. I've seen and felt a lot of rejection, neglection, and even ludicrous for having a certain opinion. That, somehow, what I think is always wrong, and there is no possible way that I can justify why I think the way I do, because I'm wrong and that's just the way it is.
"You're wrong, so we don't like you, and therefor anything you do or say from now on will also be wrong."
There's a lack of being empathetic towards the opposing view. This causes hurt between people.
I don't like hurting people.

This is why I try to agree with as much as I can on both sides. This doesn't mean I don't have strong beliefs, I do, and I intend to defend them if they are being threatened.
However, I will not shove my opinions down anyone's throat, post it all over social media, become defensive, comb through articles/comments and tell people why they are wrong. That just causes turmoil and there's a 99% chance you aren not going to change anyone's opinion anyway.
It's more important to make people feel like you are their friend than be right.

One of my favorite quotes: "Opinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world. It requires profound purpose larger than the self kind of understanding" - Bill Bullard

People are always saying, "Have an open mind!" I don't think this should necessarily be true. If you're going to be wishy-washy on everything, you won't be able to stand strong on anything and people can use you like a puppet.
The saying should be "Have a firm mind, and an open heart."

Rather than being totally on one side of the border, I think that it is okay to come to the edge to meet the other opinion. That is where compromises and unions are made. Things become more fruitful there.
One of my favorite YouTubers, Hank Green, explained this concept much better than I ever could. Hank studied ecology. He notes, that in instances where the ocean meets the land (called an ecotones), they tend to be more diverse and fruitful than either biome alone. The "edge" is a fantastic place, but it also tends to be a violent one. While there are many benefits from being able to use resources from either biome, there is also a lot more access for predators... and getting pummeled and dragged around can be exhausting. But because of the intermixing biomes, there is much larger adaptability, productivity, diversity created here. The key is to stay strong where you are, but have the ability to use the other side if you can. Here's the link if you'd like to watch what Hank has to say about the matter. (It's under 4 minutes, I highly suggest it :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WHRerf-lrw

Anyway, on a more spiritual note, in Acts chapter 14, Paul and Barnabas are praised as if they were gods... and then are heavily stoned...by the same people.
The problem is they had too open of a mind. First, they saw Paul perform a miracle and they were convinced that he was totally awesome. Then, in verse 19, it says, "And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead."
All it took was for someone to come and tell them that Paul was not awesome and they stoned him. They had no firm opinion of their own.

Now, I'm not saying you should never change your opinion. I think recognizing that original opinions were wrong can be hard. No one likes to admit they were wrong. I highly respect people who can do that. But if you truly believe and know something, stick with it! Hold fast to it! Be passionate about it!
I just beg you to not push other people away because your opinions.
I would consider myself an edge dweller. I connect well with people on both sides of the spectrum, even if my values belong on one side. I try and connect with whatever I can, even if it's small. Being on the edge allows you to learn a lot from both sides. It makes it easier to communicate to the other side without offending, but most importantly they feel like they matter.

In the words of our beloved prophet, Thomas S. Monson, "Never let a problem to be solved become more important to be loved."

Don't forget to be awesome!

The Atonement

The Atonement is so personal to me, and I decided to express my thoughts on it.

First, I want to emphasize that Gethsemane, the trials (whipped, spit upon, mocked, etc.) and the crucifixion were ALL part of the Atonement. They are all extremely important and part of the process, not just the cross, and not just Gethsemane. 

Gethsemane is Greek from the Hebrew word "The Sacred Oil Press"

Gethsemane is a garden where they would take olives (not the soft, black squishy olives we are used to, but like an extremely hard nut) and roll a HUGE stone over them, until the crushing weight causes the olive to break and causes the oils to "bleed out" from the olive. 

Don't you think that this is significant?

Jesus went to the garden of Gethsemane where he was crushed and bled out for our sins, just like the olives. 

In Mark 14:36 Jesus prays to Heavenly Father and says "Abba, Father" 

If you look up Abba you will discover that Abba has two meanings. 

1. Papa

2. Father

I'd like to think that he called him "Papa." It's a little more intimate and personal :) I believe Jesus had that kind of relationship with the Father. 

Anyway, he pleads, "Take away this cup from me..." In the verse prior to this, 35, it says that "he went forward a little, and fell on the ground".

I don't know if we were allowed to watch from Heaven as this happened. I don't know if we were able to hear the plea in his voice, but I'm willing to bet that the moment that Jesus fell to the ground, Jesus, He who had never shown any sign of any weakness, that when he fell to the ground in fear and pain, all of us wanted to reach out to Him. I'm willing to bet that many of us were cringing as we watched our loving brother struggle... so much that he could not even stand.

As EVERY sin was thrust upon Him, he bled from every pore. 

Now, I want you to think about this for a second. 

What do you feel after you've sinned?

Guilt. Shame. Loneliness. Embarrassment. Regret. Pain. Depression. Fear. Anxiety. Loss of Love. Etc. 

He felt those for the first time that night.

But worst of all, He was cut off from God. 

And when you're cut off from God, you feel the full fury of Hell thrust upon you. You feel God's wrath. 

Jesus went to Hell for us. 

His whole body/soul was being crushed. He was bleeding out of every pore. Every part of His body should have been screaming to kill itself and give up the ghost. 

But He didn't. 

Most people say, "I'm grateful that Jesus died for me." 

I'm grateful for that too.

But, I'm most grateful that Jesus lived for me. I'm grateful that He didn't give up. I'm grateful that He held onto His life and completed the Atonement so that I could be saved. I'm grateful that Jesus took away the pains of Hell so I wouldn't have to feel them myself. I'm grateful that because of Jesus Christ, I can repent of my sins and return to live in Heaven. I'm grateful that He was risen from the dead and was victorious over the sting of death. I'm grateful that he lives today. 

Don't forget to be awesome! 

At least you aren't a pig

One of my favorite stories is found in Mark 4:36-41. This is the story of Jesus and his disciples on the boat crossing to Capernum when it starts to storm. The apostles start to panic and think they are going to die. It's interesting that they are so frightened when their profession is fishing. They are on boats all the time! It must have been pretty bad for them to be shaken up. However,  they failed to realize that there is NO way they are going to drown when Jesus is with them.  Heavenly Father and Jesus aren't going to let them fail if they are with Christ. 

Like the apostles, we often feel overwhelmed. We get scared, think we are going to fail, and possibly drown. I know everyone feels this way. How many times do we think to ourselves 'I can't do this anymore' or 'I'm failing at everything" ? It happens all the time in school, family life, and our professions. We need to remember that if we are in Jesus's boat, He is not going to let us drown. We are pushed and tested to prove our faith. Sometimes, it is a reminder of where we should be focused. 

I also find Legion's story very interesting. He's the guy who has been possessed by many devils. It has driven him to the point of uncontrollable despair. I sort of feel bad for the guy. However, I want to think about the devils for a moment here. They are spirits and they don't have bodies. They will never have bodies. There is nothing they wouldn't do to be able to have a body of flesh and bone. They will tempt anyone and everyone so they can get inside and reside within a body. They don't care about the body shape, size, color, skill etc. They don't care what it looks like, because without flesh and bone, you can't progress. Our body was a gift from God for our spirit to reside in. We take our gift of a body for granted. 

We complain about the way we look. 

We complain that we wanted straight hair instead of curly. 

We complain that we are the wrong size. 

We complain that we are too tall or too short. 

You know how insulting that must be for God? From a young age we are taught that when we are given a gift, we are to graciously accept it and be thankful. Our body is a gift from God, we should appreciate everything about it. 

When Legion asked Jesus to release the spirits from him, the devils asked Jesus, "...Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them." The spirits would rather have a pigs body, than no body at all. That is how important having a body is. So, love yourself. Be happy you have a body. They are important. 

Don't forget to be awesome!

2 Tips of the Mount

If you search "perfection" on dictionary.com, it will define it as, the highest proficiency, skill, or excellence, as in some art. Typically, when we think of Christ, we think of him as the only perfect being who has walked this earth. While we take Him to be our perfect example, He excluded Himself as being perfect during his early earthly ministry. 
In Matthew 5:48, it says, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" Notice that He immediately referred to Heavenly Father as the only perfect being. 

You may be wondering, "But Jesus never sinned! How can He not be perfect as well?"
Jesus had a different definition of being perfect. To be perfect, you had to be complete. Think of it as a download. You start at 0% and climb to 100%. Until you are at that 100%, your "mission" is not complete and it will fail. Often times, during our download, we have hiccups, bugs, buffers, etc. that make hinder us from completing our task. However, Jesus did not have all these blemishes, instead He had the task of completing the Atonement before he could become 100% complete. There was still more for Him to accomplish, so He wasn't considered perfect. Luckily for us, Jesus gave us steps to erase our imperfections...THE BEATITUDES!!! 

Seriously though. If you look at it, the beatitudes could be an outline for us to follow and become perfect like him. It's not just each group of people receiving blessings, it's Him wanting us to receive all the blessings by gaining each attribute! So cool.

Another thing we talked about was in Matthew 5:29-30, they say, "And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast in from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." "And if they right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of they members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell."
Reading these, I first thought, "Oh, that would be really painful to pluck out your eye or cut off your hand. Better not offend God if it will be worst than that! Yikes."
But there is so much more to learn! The particular selection of the eye and the hand is actually quit interesting. Think about it.

The eye is a major source for input in your life. The sight your eye gives you, puts in a large portion of knowledge into your brain. Your eyes help create the world around you. What is the counsel here? If whatever you are inputting into your life offends God, PLUCK IT OUT! There is no other way. God is telling us it is much easier to be half blind and get to heaven than have full vision also being swallowed in sin.

The hand is a major output for your life. You use your hands to effect the world around you. Your hands were given to you to do good in the world. What is the counsel here? If we are using our hands to offend God, CUT IT OFF! This could mean harming others, denying the gospel, or even being idle in our time. We were placed on this earth to do good with our time. If we are so caught up in playing games, watching shows, etc... in other words doing NOTHING, how offended will God be when we come back to heaven so much wasted potential? It would have been better to fully cut off whatever wasted output we have than lose the potential bonds/love we could have experienced otherwise.

The virtual addictions have to stop (this also includes pornography). I cannot even begin to describe how much wasted time goes online. Sometimes, the only way to get rid of the addiction, is to do exactly what Jesus says, and pluck/cut it out of our life.
"But not having a smart phone/tablet/laptop is super inconvenient! We need these things today!"
...yeah well so would be losing an eye or hand. This is what Jesus counsels us to do. I suggest we do it.

Don't forget to be awesome!

Rebuilding OUR temple

 This year I am taking New Testament as my religion class at BYU. For part of it, we are required to write a reflection each week about something we have learned. I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to put those writing/thoughts onto my blog. So, here ya go :) 

This week we read in Matthew 4. This is the story of Jesus fasting for 40 days and then is tempted by the devil. One thing that stuck out to me was that Satan and God have different ways to make us happy. Satan will appeal to us in instantaneous gratification. Instantaneous gratification is to experience the pleasure of something you wanted without delay. Basically, we get whatever we want at that moment without thinking about the past or future, a.k.a always living in the now. God, on the other hand, tells us to trust him. He even tells us that if we follow him, it won't be easy. That alone can cause others to stray from the light of Christ. Today, our world is so used to getting things instantaneously. We have lightning fast internet, ovens, light, phones, etc. If there is any sort of delay, we easily become frustrated and fussy. This is a huge advantage for Satan. If we are down and distraught, it is easy to fill the agony with drugs or being some place we should not be...something that will fix the pain immediately. While this indulgence will last for hours, or maybe days, it is not eternal. God wants us to follow him, step by step, until we are perfected by Him. The joy we will feel at the end of the journey to Him, will be far greater than any instantaneous gratification we would ever experience. 

It would have been so easy for Jesus to fall into the enticings of instant gratification. In Matthew 4:6 it says, "And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: an in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash they foot against a stone."

It was not easy for Jesus to gain followers in the beginning of his ministry. Many mocked him, thought him to be a fraud, and cast him out. If he were to through himself off the pinnacle and an angel to come and catch him, all of the people below would witness miracle. Witnessing miracles is a quick way to convert someone. Jesus would have had an instant following, a lot less work for Jesus. However, as we know, witnessing miracles is not enough to convert souls forever. Moses's people witnessed many, many miracles. The plagues, parting of the Red Sea, manna from heaven, etc. Yet, they were not strong enough and strayed from Gospel of Christ. The best way to convert people, is by small and simple things. 

We also covered John 2. This chapter covers Jesus cleansing the temple. In verse 19 it says, "Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." This can apply metaphorically to our lives as well. In church we learn that our body is a temple. Jesus can come and clean inside our "temple" just as he did for the temple in Jerusalem. Our temples are blemished with sins and temptations. If we let him, Jesus can cleanse our temple through the atonement. However, just as it was for the temple in Jerusalem, it is not a pleasant process to go through. He will "pour out" parts of us that we have held onto for so long. He will "overthrow" our habits and "drive away" anything that is not inline with heaven. This is so powerful. He can rebuild us and make us as pure as himself and our Father in heave. The Atonement can do this for all of us. 

Don't forget to be awesome(: 

To be a "Y's" man is to be a wise man

I never thought I'd be the typical blogging Mormon, yet, here I am. I'm beginning my Sophomore year at BYU. It has already been a whirlwind of crazy adventures and learning opportunities. This year I am taking New Testament for my religion class. As part of it, we are required to write a reflection each week of something we have learned. I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to put those writing/thoughts onto my blog. So, here ya go :) 

This week we celebrated Christmas as we studied the birth of Christ. I love the story of Christ’s birth, but more in particular, the story of Mary and Joseph.  The amount of faith that Mary had to have after being told that she would be in charge of the life of the Son of God, would be incomprehensible. Could you imagine being told as a very young virgin, that not only were you going to have a baby, but a baby that would be the redeemer of all mankind? The pressure would have overwhelmed me, as I would suspect it would for most of us. Luke 2:19 says, “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” Ponder in the footnotes means to study, pray, and meditate. What an example Mary is to us. When the impossible happened, she turned more unto the Lord for guidance. On the other account, Joseph would have had to have an incredibly compassionate heart to obey the Lord’s command and go to Mary. Put in his shoes, I would have so many doubts. How could this even be possible? I would like to testify that the Lord knows us better than we know ourselves. He will qualify us in whatever we are called to do. Whether that is be a Primary teacher, a Bishop, the parents of a disabled child, or even a student, he guide us with angels on our left and our right, as long as we put our faith in Him first.

My professor, Brother Griffin, made this really great analogy of the wise men. As students of BYU we are all “Y’s” men. For us, it is not enough for us to hear about God, we need to earnestly seek him as the wise men did. Like the wise men, we offer him gifts. Not expensive physical gifts as the wise men did, but expensive spiritual gifts of a broken heart and contrite spirit.  With the title of being a “Y’s” man, we are the wise men of today. What an amazing comparison!

In closure, I’d like to leave you with my favorite scripture from this week. Luke 2:52 says, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.” If you pay attention to this verse, he progressed in four different areas: wisdom, stature, God and man. In other words, he is expanding his mind (intelligence), body (physically), spiritually (God) and socially (family/friends). Is this not the areas we are to better ourselves in as well? What a perfect example for us to follow. If we are to become like Him, this verse gives us a basic outline of what we are to do.  

BYU part 1

I've been to a lot of places and seen a lot of faces. 

Most of my summers have consisted of traveling around the U.S or even outside of it. Adventures has always been one of my family's favorite things to do. However, up until August 2013 I always had the same home to come back to. My family never moved. 

Leaving home was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I was leaving my 3 younger siblings to go on with their lives without me. It was crushing. I was going to a college where my family was over a thousand miles away and I was solely going alone. On top of everything being new and me being completely lost, I am introvert. I was terrified. However, I had heard so many wonderful and exciting stories of BYU. 

"It's the best time in your life!"

"You'll never be happier!!!"

While I believed in BYU as some sort of fairy-tale, I felt like I was leaving one behind in Oklahoma. 

My first semester was one of the most trying times in my life. Perhaps this was because I tried so hard to be someone I'm not, or maybe it was because I didn't have the support of a mother anymore. I felt like I was carrying the whole weight of the apartment on my shoulders and slipping in school. On top of all this, EVERYONE was dating...except me. I mean, I went on dates. It wasn't ever successful though. Stressful. 

I remember staring at the ceiling with my heart aching. I wasn't as pretty as everyone else at BYU, I couldn't compete. I didn't have the social skills, special talents, intelligence or spiritual aura the rest had. 

It wore me down piece by piece, day after day. 

I made friends, well a best friend. I was blessed with the tender mercy of having a roommate who was just enough like me that we were best friends, but also different so we didn't butt heads. I immediately felt like I could talk to her about everything. We'd lay on our beds and talk into the wee hours of the morning about life. Family, love, our worries, fears and future. If I didn't have her, I think I would have given up and gone to live at home. I don't think it was an accident that we were roommates. We were set up by a family who lives in my town and told me we should be roommates. Call it destiny or fate, but we both needed each other. God looks out for us, he always has :) 

But I struggled with my other two roommates. They were nothing like me. Now looking back, I think they were my roommates to teach me things so that I wouldn't have to go through those things myself. I quickly learned to clean after myself and dating wasn't what it all it was cracked up to be. I became an expert listener as I heard sob stories and a teacher when asked for advice. 

I learned to love the mountains. They were magical as I watched them turn from green to golden colors of red, brown and yellow then finally to white. I've always been in love with snow, it's so peaceful as it falls from the sky. You can always see God's beauty when it snows.

Here are a few things I learned my first semester:

1. Any boy can break your heart if you give them the power to.

2. I'm not even close to as smart as I thought I was.

3. Roommates make or break your semester. 

4. God is there, God is always there for you. 

5. You can ALWAYS call home too :)

Online Etiquette - How Pinteresting are you?

In recent events, I have decided to dedicate my blog to thoughts on what is SOCIALLY acceptable on SOCIAL media. 

This is not professional in any manner or meant to be offensive in anyway. My intention is to inform the general public that there are unspoken rules of using Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. and I see these rules broken more than I would like.

I will admit, Pinterest is addicting. It has something for everybody. You don't have to be crafty, fit, artistic, intelligent, rich, etc. to use it. Really, Pinterest is used to form ideas into your head. To help oneself to become more recreational. I recently took a Communications class at Brigham Young University. The Professor asked the class, "I want you and a partner to come up with a list, in order, of the top influential social media sites." Facebook was at the bottom of the list. I don't know about you, but I rarely feel inspired to do anything while scrolling through a jumbled mess of so-and-so liked this picture and so-and-so was tagged in 3 photos. The top influential website was Pinterest, followed by Tumblr. So, if Pinterest is so influential, why does it only have 70 million users compared to Facebook's 1.4 billion? Well, because it is designed to draw in the female demographic. 

Pinterest has this stigma of being girly. I hate that. Yes, it has wedding stuff and home crafts, but it also has home repair tricks, hilarious photos, gadgets, workout routines, etc. I don't know why it has been deemed for girls only but I guess, why is video games deemed only for boys?

If you Urban Dictionary Pinterest you will find the definition -a social networking site that allows you to figuratively "pin" pictures of your likes/interests in a simple, organized fashion. Organized. That is the main influential factor of Pinterest. It allows the user to organize and visualize ideas they like into different categories so they are an easy find when needed. No one is going to plan their wedding, birthday party or home from start to finish with their pins on Pinterest. That would be absurd. What Pinterest is actually used for is to look and pin what you like, for example, styles, color schemes, photos, etc. Then after getting an idea of what ideas capture your interest, you put it all together and creat your own thing. Hence being influential. 

Being influential is not what I have beef about with some Pinterest users. What I am opposed to is the users who decide to pin 50+ pins from the same category in one sitting. Whether it is interesting to me or not, it is completely overwhelming. 

If I am seeing a 100 quilt designs or 45 pictures of the same celebrity, I'm not feeling inspired. I'm feeling like I need to frantically scroll to where I can see anything else besides the same thing over and over. It gets old real quick. Plus, I know there is no way any one individual is going to go back and find that one pin that they really liked. Pinterest should be used for the ideas that get the mind to whirl, not give you every cake idea under the sun. If you want to pin a bunch of the same thing, just mix and match! Pin a recipe here, a quote there, an outfit, and then another recipe. That way, we're all not overwhelmed on the receiving end of your pins. 

The not so ironic thing about Pinterest is that the purpose of it is in the name itself. Pinterest.  Find the things that interest you and share them with anyone who follows you. Don't shove your favorite celebrity down the rest of our throats; that is what hidden boards are for. Use Pinterest to inspire your fellow pinners to paint their nails, not drive them to see every design possible. If they wanted to see all  the designs for themselves, they could just search for it in the search bar. 

So, let's keep things Pinteresting for all of us, and we could be pin-pals. 

Our Future and Awkwardly Facetiming

I've often wondered what our future will be like. Being the first generation to grow up fully submerged in technology we will be able to watch our fellow high school grow up, get married, land jobs and have kids. Our posts, tweets, pictures, and videos will live on in the past as a sort of dialog about our life. ...sort of like this blog! :D

I first started thinking about this when Amy (my freshman BYU roommate) and I started a vlog on YouTube. The thought occurred to me that my future kids could go back and watch me in moments when I was at college. HOW STRANGE!
The most I was ever able to get was the letters my mom wrote while she was at college, which were actually quite hilarious. It would be SO cool to see my mom talking to the camera when she was just a fresh college kid, instead of always being my mom.
I could see past boyfriends/girlfriends, family vacations, hit videos and songs that were happening in that era. Anyway, it was just a weird thought for me.

Onto story time! So Amy and I were sitting together trying to watch Pushing Daisies and while we trying to figure it out I got a phone call from our other roommate, Katy, who was a bit lost finding our mail. Anyway, we tried FaceTiming so we could see where she was at and direct her where to go.
*ring-a-ling* *ring-a-ling-a-ling* someone answers annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd IT'S NOT KATY. This older woman popped up on the screen and was like "hello!" 
...........
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...................................... oh brother.
We just kinda looked awkwardly at the screen and I sort of muffle/whisper to Amy, "where's Katy?"
I guess the lady realized we didn't mean to call because she said "I think you have the wrong number."
*awkward looks between the three of us* Amy says, "Uh, oops, Kaybye." As soon as she hung up I about peed myself laughing so hard. I was down on the ground unable to handle what just happened. C'est la vie.
Although I'm not sure why you would pick up a facetime from an unknown caller but that just happened.